銀座 篝

Soba bar to warm you up during Tokyo winters

Hidden in a side alley near the Ginza Apple store, Ginza Kagari can be missed except for the long line that stretches out to the main sidewalk. The wait is at least 30 minutes long, so be prepared to wait. As a side activity, one can enjoy the drinks that the many vending machines offer outside the store.

The signature dish is the Tori Paitan, which is the shop’s soba noodles with a creamy broth, some chicken breast slices and very, very springy noodles that is cooked to perfection. Hailing from San Francisco with a pretty decent Japanese food selection, this soba house beats all Japanese noodles experiences I had in the Bay Area. If chicken is not your favorite protein, try the Niboshi Shoyu soba, which consists of fish broth with pork slices. The flavor was multi-dimensional, albeit less rich than the chicken ramen.

Don’t be shy and slurp the noodles in this intimate setting; the seats face the small kitchen staff in a bar like seating (eight seats in total).